Congress may overshoot deadline to find a new president if Rahul does not take up post

So far, the Mistry-led panel has not announced the dates for filing of nomination, withdrawal and date of polls though there are only 2 days left for the exercise to kickstart

Congress may overshoot its September 20 deadline to find a new president by at least a week to enable it to zero in on a consensus candidate if leaders fail to convince Rahul Gandhi to change his mind and take up the assignment.

The party had in October last year set a one month window between August 21 and September 20 this year for electing its new chief but there is no sign of a Congress Working Committee (CWC) to suggest dates to the party’s Central Election Authority (CEC) headed by senior leader Madhusudan Mistry.

Read | Will he, will he not? Congress' Rahul Gandhi dilemma

So far, the Mistry-led panel has not announced the dates for filing of nomination, withdrawal and date of polls though there are only two days left for the exercise to kickstart. The CEC has been maintaining that it has a list of delegates who could vote and is putting the ball for the final schedule with the CWC.

However, the CWC is unlikely to meet soon as president Sonia Gandhi has been tested positive for Covid-19 for the third time. While the CEC has said that it has the list of delegates, which includes AICC members selected by state units, the election from booth to state level is running behind schedule

The party had set a deadline of May 31 for elections to panels upto block committees and July 20 for district committees while that for the state, including AICC members, is expiring on Saturday.

This had recently prompted Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal to send a fresh missive to General Secretaries and state in-charges asking them to ensure that committees at booth, block, intermediary committees between booth and block levels and district are constituted before August 30.

Also during this period, Congress has announced a protest rally in Delhi against price rise on September 4 and the launch of its ambitious ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on September 7. Leaders said a new president is unlikely before September 7, as the party had cited the evolving Covid-19 situation to reschedule its rally against price rise by a week.

A senior leader said if Rahul continues to remain defiant not to take up Presidentship, it may take another week beyond September 20 to conclude the election. However, another leader said they cannot set a deadline in such a scenario.

DH had on August 11 reported that Rahul was yet to reveal his mind over reclaiming the top post in the party that he quit after the 2019 Lok Sabha election debacle. He had told a group of MPs and leaders that he did not want to assume the post.

In case Rahul refuses, sources said a section of leaders want interim president Sonia Gandhi to continue in the post. However, Sonia is unlikely to yield to pressure owing to health condition while Rahul has been insisting that a non-Gandhi be the new president.

With uncertainty over Rahul taking over, there is speculation over a number of names including Mallikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik, Meira Kumar, Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot among others.

However, sources said, if the party chooses a veteran leader, then it would have to couch it as a political message.